Madame Perregaux - 1789
Oil on oak, 100 x 78 cm, 39 3/8 x 30 3/4 in
Wallace Collection, London
Vigée Le Brun
there were very few role models. This wasn't because none
existed, but because art history at that time was taught in
a highly sexist manner, and it would be easy to believe that
my girlfriends who were interested in drawing and I were
the first women painters ever to exist. Not true of course.
One of my favorite portrait painters from the past is
Elizabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun 17 55 - 1842. Most people
know her as Vigée Le Brun. She was a famous french painter,
prolific in her output (I think she painted more than
1,000 paintings in her day). She also wrote her memoirs
and instructions on how to paint -- still fascinating reading
today. http://www.batguano.com/Vigeeart16.html
Mary Cassatt was one of the few women painters who
should have been on our art history agendas, but
she wasn't someone my teachers mentioned. I admire
her work. Her portraits represent to me the best
possible combination of accuracy and painterly
experimentation.
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/cassatt/
Woman in black
c. 1882 (180 Kb);
Oil on canvas,
100.6 x 74 cm (39 3/4 x 29 in)
One of the saddest stories of a woman artist is that
of the Canadian portrait painter Lynn Donoghue.
I met her when I was an art writer for a Canadian
art magazine. She was a vital young woman, and an
amazingly fresh portrait painter. Experimental,
bold, and unique, her portraits were like nothing
I'd ever seen.
A close friend of mine knew Lynn well, and owns
several of her paintings. Through this connection
I understand that the last year of her life was harrowing.
Trying to make a living as an artist in Canada is difficult, even
when you're in the top flight, and collected by
most major galleries, which she was. In her
last year she lost a major grant, and significant
commission my friend told me. She was
a diabetic and died of an insulin reaction. She
was only 50 and would have had a long and
promising career in front of her. I cannot find
an image of her work to show you on the net. And that
is unbelievable. Five years after her death she has
effectively vanished. If I find one I'll put it on the blog.
Until that time, courage women and men. We
artists have to stick together.
There are many other women of note I could
mention here, but for now this will do.
Have an honouring-the-women-in-your-life day.
of the Canadian portrait painter Lynn Donoghue.
I met her when I was an art writer for a Canadian
art magazine. She was a vital young woman, and an
amazingly fresh portrait painter. Experimental,
bold, and unique, her portraits were like nothing
I'd ever seen.
A close friend of mine knew Lynn well, and owns
several of her paintings. Through this connection
I understand that the last year of her life was harrowing.
Trying to make a living as an artist in Canada is difficult, even
when you're in the top flight, and collected by
most major galleries, which she was. In her
last year she lost a major grant, and significant
commission my friend told me. She was
a diabetic and died of an insulin reaction. She
was only 50 and would have had a long and
promising career in front of her. I cannot find
an image of her work to show you on the net. And that
is unbelievable. Five years after her death she has
effectively vanished. If I find one I'll put it on the blog.
Until that time, courage women and men. We
artists have to stick together.
There are many other women of note I could
mention here, but for now this will do.
Have an honouring-the-women-in-your-life day.
